''I feel like I'm nothing without wildlife. They are the stars. I feel awkward without them." --Bindi Irwin "Don't go around saying the world owes you a living; the world owes you nothing; it was here first." -- Mark Twain

Good news! Our bokkie is still alive and well. I kept my eyes peeled for him when we were in the Shingwedzi area, and as we were sitting in Kanniedood Dam Hide (20 June 2011) - there he was on the other side of the riverbed. He was a bit far off - so photos are a bit cropped:

I must assume that this is the same impala ram jekalo refers to. I saw it near the Limpopo Tented Camp on 6 August. It is obviously doing very well in spite of its stand-out colour condition. However, this is not a year-old ram... maybe it IS a different one!?

He looks just like the one I saw on July 17 in the same location, just between the tented camp and the protected vegitation area going toward the waterhole hide. I am having trouble uploading a picture but will keep trying. He must frequent that area as it has less of a predator problem than perhaps closer to the river or the hide itself. Jekalo

The white impala did not seen particularly "part of" the rest of the impalas around as he was wandering about /grazing / browsing a little way off from a dispersed herd of mixed sex and age. Initially I though he was the only ram about, but now I am not so sure about that observation anymore.

This Impala was seen near the Kanniedood dam hide on the 10th of April this year. From the slightly grey patches on the back I think this may be the same impala that was seen by Bushbuddies at the same location!

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference"

And a really beautiful specimen he is turning out to be Give him one more year to mature further , and he may aquire his own harem and then may even pass on his white genes Seen at Kanniedood on 15th April 2012 .

Tread softly , and let your departure not be spoiled by the damage of your arrival

How often can one use the phrase "I saw a pink elephant" without referring to the heavy night of partying that they had the night before?

Yesterday, at approximately 16:20 I was crossing the Olifants River Bridge heading towards Satara when that exact phrase came out of my mouth. There was a relatively large matriarchal herd that had come down to the river for a swim and after watching them for a while, I noticed a very lightly coloured elephant calf. After looking through my binoculars and checking and double checking that I wasn't seeing things, I realised that I was looking at a pink elephant, literally.

After doing some research on this phenomenon, I have realised just how uncommon it is to see such a thing and also realised how lucky I was to be in the right place at the right time.

One question that I have is about the chances of survival of this young calf? Have the pink elephant calves that have been spotted in the park before been monitored and did any of them ever reach sub-adult/adult status?I realise that in the harsh South African sun, having an unpigmented skin can not at all be beneficial to survival but I hope in my heart of hearts that this little calf is a success story!

If anyone else has seen this calf or could provide regular updates as to its progress, that would be wonderful.

Yesterday I was at the Matambeni bird hide when a small herd of 19 elephant came out of the bush on the opposite side of the river. The herd contained several young and a couple of babies as well as the adults. There was a baby pink elephant in the group. At first I thought it was just coloration from rolling in the sand but on closer inspection through my 600 mm lens, I determined that it was indeed a natural pink pigmentation of the entire body of the little one and it was particularly bright behind the ears when it flapped them. The baby was accompanied at all times by what I assume was its mother and an older sibling. The pink one tended to stay in the shade of the mother and kept for the most part between the two when walking. When they got to the river and crossed it, the adults gathered around the pink one to protect it from a large croc that shadowed the group. The water is deep at that point and all you could see were trunks projecting out of the water and the little one almost riding on the backs of the adults. 3H4A1837 by mrfitzhugh, on FlickrI will try to post pictures to share this sighting.3H4A1845 by mrfitzhugh, on Flickr

Last edited by jekalo on Fri Apr 05, 2013 1:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.

jekalo wrote: I determined that it was indeed a natural pink pigmentation of the entire body of the little one and it was particularly bright behind the ears when it flapped them.

I've seen one of those too, exactly as you describe it, except it was an adult, not a baby. This pink elephant was then found early one evening in the clutches of a yellow lion. This particular young male lion had a white belly, yet he was a yellow-bellied coward. He had become separated from the rest of the pride, so there he was, muching all by himself on the pink elephant. A really fresh pink elephant too, the blood was still oozing out of the trunk. Not sure how it died, but I somehow doubt the credit belonged to the yellow lion.